Adam Fischer doesn’t believe in second chances. Heartbroken after his lover Charlie leaves him to chase his music career in L.A., Adam is convinced that meaningless one-night-stands are all life has in store for him.

Until fate drops Penn Shields in his lap.

Penn is a young, talented designer fresh out of college who has just landed his dream job as a wardrobe assistant in Queen Victoria theatre, where Adam is performing in a popular musical.

He’s also Charlie's brother.

The last thing Penn wants is to follow in his brother’s footsteps, especially since they haven’t spoken in years. However, the attraction he feels for Adam grows with each day, and soon resisting it proves to be futile.

As Adam and Penn get to know each other intimately, they both realise that first impressions may be deceiving, and that, sometimes, second chances come in the same packaging.

“What does it mean?” Adam asked as he traced Penn’s tattoo with a soapy finger. The dark lines of the birds in flight looked even more striking when Penn’s alabaster skin was wet. “It means freedom. And letting go. And trying to not be afraid,” Penn said, and relaxed back against Adam's chest. He raised a hand covered in foam and blew on it, creating small soap bubbles that landed back in the water. Adam kept silent, absently caressing Penn’s stomach under the water, waiting for him to elaborate. Penn sighed. “I’ve always been fascinated by birds – their shape, their ability to fly. And I’ve always associated flight with both freedom and falling. I’m scared to death of free fall.” Adam had a side view of Penn’s face as he talked and was mesmerised by the way his wet mouth moved as he spoke. “I guess I wanted to remind myself that with freedom always comes the danger of falling so hard that you can’t get back up. But at the same time, just like the birds can’t help but fly, I can’t help but be who I am, even if that means getting hurt in the end.” Penn paused, turning his head slightly to meet Adam's gaze. The candour in those wide, grey eyes made Adam's breath hitch. He was certain no one, ever, had looked at him that way – so open and unreserved that he could peek straight into their soul. “Does that make any sense?” “Yeah. It makes perfect sense.”

Hi, my name is Teodora and I live in London with my husband and my son. I've been writing ever since I can remember, but it became my full time job a few years ago when I decided that everything else I've tried bores me to death and I have to do what I've always wanted to do, but never had the guts to fully embrace. I've been a journalist, an editor, a personal assistant and an interior designer among other things, but as soon as the novelty of the new, exciting job wears off, I always go back to writing. Being twitchy, impatient, loud and hasty are not qualities that help a writer, because I have to sit alone, preferably still, and write for most of the day, but I absolutely love it. It's the only time that I'm truly at peace and the only thing I can do for more than ten minutes at a time - my son has a bigger attention span than me.

When I'm procrastinating, I like to go to the gym, cook Italian meals (and eat them), read, listen to rock music, watch indie movies and True Blood re-runs. Or, in the worst case scenario, get beaten at every Nintendo Wii game by a kid.